iPhone maker Apple buys office complex in Cupertino

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Cupertino City Center office buildings in Cupertino at the corner of
Stevens Creek Boulevard and Torre Avenue. Apple has bought a big Cupertino
office complex that has been a frequent home for some of the tech titan’s
operations over the decades, an indication that the iPhone maker continues
to plant deeper roots in its home town.
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CUPERTINO — Apple has bought a big Cupertino office complex that has been a frequent home for some of the tech titan’s operations over the decades, an indication that the iPhone maker continues to plant deeper roots in its home town.

The company bought two office buildings at the corner of Stevens Creek Boulevard and Torre Avenue, according to property documents filed on Aug. 19 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.

“Apple really likes being in Cupertino, and this is a way for them to solidify their presence there,” said Eric Fox, executive managing director with Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate firm.

Cupertino-based Apple paid $290 million for the two buildings, the county documents show. The buildings are within the Cupertino City Center development, a complex that includes office buildings, residences, restaurants, and a hotel.

The two office buildings are known as Cupertino City Center 1 and Cupertino City Center 2, according to a LoopNet listing.

One building is at 20300 Stevens Creek Blvd. and totals 168,000 square feet, while the other building, located at 20330 Stevens Creek Blvd., totals 146,000 square feet, county assessment and LoopNet documents show.

In recent years, Apple has taken steps to dramatically expand its operations in Cupertino, where the company maintains its headquarters.

The most striking complex owned by Apple in Cupertino is the doughnut-shaped Apple Park, a circular building also known as the Apple Spaceship.

The company also has expanded into Sunnyvale and has assembled 85 acres of land and buildings in north San Jose where Apple could develop a new campus.

Despite these expansion efforts in north San Jose and Sunnyvale, Cupertino remains Apple’s center of gravity and the company’s principal hub of operations.

“The purchase of the two office buildings is definitely a way for Apple to have more control over locations in its home town,” said Dave Sandlin, an executive vice president with Colliers International, a commercial real estate firm.

The seller of the two office buildings was American Realty Advisors, a Los Angeles-based investment manager for big commercial real estate portfolios. American Realty had owned the property through an affiliate called SVF Cupertino City Center Corp., the county documents show.

American Realty Advisors appears to have harvested a significant profit through the sale. As of mid-June of this year, the assessed value of the two parcels that were sold was $135.1 million, county documents show.

“Apple was a tenant in these buildings, then they left, and now they are back in the buildings,” Fox said.